Soap dispenser



Dec. 15, 1925. 1,585,888

C. AUSSENHOFER SOAP DISPENSER Filed May 4, 1923 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 Tjg 1. 9

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UNITED STATES CHARLES AUSSENHOFER, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

1 SOAP DISPENSER.

Application filed May 4,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES AUssEN- rrornn, a citizenof the UnitedStates, residing at South Norwalk, in the county of Fairfield and Stateof Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSoap Dispensers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to soap dispensers and more particularly to creamsoap dispensing apparatus designed to render sanitary the use of soap inboth publicor private institutions and which prevents waste thereof. 7

The primary object of my invention is to produce a soap dispensercapable of effectively dispensing cream or sand soap in predeterminedquantities; and a further object is to provide an apparatus having animproved soap dispensing means which preserves the consistency of thesoap by sealing the discharge orifice to prevent air from drying out andhardening thesoap material. It is also an object to provide a combinedsoap feed plunger and'visible gage device capable of indicating at alltimes the quantity of cream soap remaining in the soap dispenser. Otherobjects and principles of the invention are described in thespecification and pointed out in the appended claims. I

The accompanying drawings illustrateone preferred embodiment of theinvention; the constructional] d uses of which may be varied or modifiedto meet the requirements of the trade and to-suit general manufacturingand iiroductiou conditions without depz'trting from the scope of theinvention.

Figure 1 illustrates .avertical longitudinal section taken on the line11 of Figure 2 through the soap dispenser, showing the soap feed pistonin downwardly limited position.

Figure 2 also shows a vertical longitudinal section of the soapdispenser as developed on a plane substantially right angular to theplane of section of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a cross sectional view of the soap dispenser as taken onthe line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of the soap discharge plungeremployed to discharge a predetermined quantity of soap from theapparatus into ones hand.

eferring now more particularly to the drawings fora further and moredetailed description of the invention, there is shown 1923. Serial No.636,518.

most end of the basefor the reception of a stud or cap screw employed inmounting the soap dispenser on a horizontal surface such as s shown inFigure 1. The mounting bracket 7 formed on the base is also designed tobe securedto a vertlcal surface, such as the wall of a standingstructure, as shown in Figure 2; and it is therefore to be appreciatedthat I provide a mounting bracket of universal character enabling thesoap dispenser to be installed at any accessible point whether'onbenches or shelves, or upon walls of a building. Thebase is formed withan upper flange or rim 11 adapted to receive the soap tank or container,as will be de scribed and is made with a downwardly converging wall 12joining with vertical parallel walls 13 constituting a substantiallyrectangular shaped discharge chamber or pocket into which the soap isfed just prior to being pressed or discharged from the device during theoperation thereof by the user. The discharge chamber 13 is made with asoap discharge orifice 14 out through which the soap is ejected intoones hand. The rear portion of the base is made. with a circular wall 15for the reception of the rotating end or hub of a discharge plunger aslater described. The design and con struction of the base is such thatthe soap is gradually fed downwardly into the soap discharge chamber orpocket 13 thereby providing a constantly uniform amount of soap readyfor delivery through the orifice 14. A hub 16 is made integral with thebase adapted to receive a shaft for operating the soap discharge plungeras will be described.

A soap discharge plunger 18 is fixed upon a shaft 19, and the shaft isjournaled in the base and hub 16. The shaft carries a handle 20 on theouter end thereof by which the operator, one desiring soap, actuates thesoap discharge pliu1ger18. The discharge plunger 18 is made with a hubportion 21, and a forwardly projecting plunger head 18; and the upperportion of the plunger head is preferably sharpened, as at 22, therebyadapting the discharge plunger to quickly make or cut its way throughthe soap material, enabling the plunger to quickly rise at the end ofeach soap discharge operation. This discharge plunger 18 is confined inthe base with the hub portion 21 fitting closely to the base wall 15,thereby forming a sealed soap tight joint between the plunger hub andbase. The plunger hub 21 rotates against the wall and over the orificell thereby effectively sealing'and closing the orifice when the plungerrises to inactive position as'shown in Figure 2.; and when the handle 20is thrust downwardly to discharge soap, the discharge plunger hub 21opens the orifice let thereby enabling the flat bottom plane edge 'ofthe plunger to squeeze and discharge soap from the pocket 13. outwardlythrough the uncovered orifice 14. The plunger is made with a cut offshoulder 1'? which passes over the orifice 14 and seals against a seatand corner adjacent the orifice thereby establishing a double cut offinsuring a positive air tight seal which preserves the soap againstdeterioration. The discharge plunger is shown in dotted lines in itslowermost discharge position at the end of its discharge stroke. A coilreturn spring 23 has one end thereof anchored to 'the shaft 19 while theother end is anchored to a nut 24 screwed into the hub 16;'and the nut24 may act as a'bearing to support the shaft 19.

A soap tank or container in the form of a cylinder or tube 27 is'inounted on the base and secured to the flange '11 thereof by anysuitable means. The upper end of the soap tank is made with oppositelyarranged bayonet slots 28 for locking the tank cover or cap in position.This tank is made of a length or height sufficient to carry a supply ofsoap in any determined amount; and a tank cover29 is inadewith struck-inears or lugs 30 which engage with'the bayonet slots 28 to lock the cover29 in position. The bayonet slots are preferably undercut, as shown inFigure 2, in order that'the cap be more permanently locked upon thetank.

A soap feed piston or plunger 31 is slidably fitted in the tank cylinder27, and is adapted to steadily and positively drive the soap downwardlyinto the discharge pocket 13; and the piston may be made with ribsthrough which the lower end of a compression spring 33 is threaded, theribs 32 having holes therein for this purpose, thereby affording aconvenient means for quickly assembling the spring and piston. Thepiston is preferably made with upper sharp edges as well as being madewith a concave working surface thereby forming sharp edges, which cutsaway and removes dry or hard soap during the travel of the piston in thecylinder; and both soap cutting piston edges are preferably undercut inorder that soap, if by chance it should become dry and hard on the tankwalls, be cut and removed therefrom. The piston carries a short post 34which is pivotally connected with a draw rod 35; and the lower end ofthe draw rod is slotted as at 36 with a pin 37 anchored to the post 34and passing through the slot 36. This arrangement afi'ords a sliding andpivotal lock joint connection between the post 34 and draw or piston rod35 which functions as hereinafter described. A knob 38 is fixed to theupper end of the draw rod, and is preferably pointed on the upper endthereof to prevent thoughtless pounding on it while in operation.

The piston rod is designed to act as a gage indicating at all times thequantity of soap remaining in the tank, for when the knob 38 stands highabove the 'tank cap it follows that the tank is substantially full; andwhen the knob approaches the tank it indicates as a matter of coursethat the supply of soap is running low. This gage stands as a continuoussight indication as to the quantity of soap in the tank, and the devicepositively functions without outside manual interference or assistance,because one does not necessarily have to first test it to determine thesoap level in the tank.

In the operation and use of the soap dispenser, the draw or gage rod ispulled up wardly to retract the piston 31 into the cap as shown inFigure 2, and it is next displaced downwardly or pivoted over in aposit-ion substantially .rightangular to the post 34, and thereupon thedraw rod is forced longitudinally to slide the slotted end thereof alongthe pin 37 to effect a locked position to forcibly hold the piston up inthe cap in inoperative position. The cap 29 is next displaceddownwardlyand then rotated to disengage the cars 30 from the bayonetslots 28 thereby enabling one to remove the cap and piston assembly forthe purpose of fill-- ing the soap tank. The tank is filled with creamor sand soap, and when the cap is replaced and the d aw rod 35straightened out, the piston 31 feeds downwardly on the soap to press itinto the discharge pocket 13. By manipulating the handle 20 apredetermined. length of soap ribbon is discharged from the orifice 1-1into the hand of the operator held therebelow. hen the operator removeshis hand from the handle, the spring 23 immediately returns the soapdischarge parts to upwardly limited position ready for the nextoperation.

This type of soap dispenser fills a long felt want in affording apositively operating apparatus capable of handling all grades of creamsoap, and particularly sand soap. The design and construction of theparts is such that little machining and finishing work is required to beperformed upon the castbase and plunger before they are assembled; andthe device is inexpensive to manufacture and unlikely of getting out oforder; and is presented to accommodate the trade in respect to creamsoap for the reason that liquid soap dispensers now in use are notadapted to handle thick heavy cream soap.v

What I claim is 1. A soap dispenser comprising a container, a soapdischarge device arranged therein to deliver soap to the user, apressure feed piston adapted to feed soap under pressure to thedischarge device, a piston rod fixed on the piston and projecting fromthe container and acting as a gage, and a cover disposed over thecontainer and carrying the piston and projecting gage, a springdisposedbetween the cover and piston, said piston rod formed in twosections, a slot and pin joint pivotally joining the said sections andproviding a lock to secure the piston up in the cover.

2. A soap dispenser comprising a soap tank, a discharge plunger arrangedtherein, and a mounting bracket embodying a horizontal and vertical armadapted to mount ..he dispenser upon a horizontal or vertical support.

3. A soap dispenser comprising a soap tank, a removable cap on one endof the tank, a base fixed in the other end of the tank, said baseprovided with a downwardly slopingbottom, a discharge pocket joiningwith the sloping bottom, said pocket provided with a discharge orifice,a plunger pivoted in the pocket, a hub made integral with the base, ashaft journaled in the hub and fixed to the plunger, a spring to rotatethe shaft to lift the plunger and seal the orifice, and a handle on theshaft to actuate the plunger.

4. A soap dispenser comprising a soap tank, a removable cover therefor,a base fastened in one end of the tank, said base made with a soappocket bounded by a section of a circular wall and a discharge orificetherein,-paral1el straight walls joining with the circular wall forminga substantially rectangular shaped pocket, a discharge plunger embodyinga rectangular shaped head and a partially round hub adapted to closelyfit the circular wall of the pocket, and a sharp cut-off shoulder madeon the plunger to seal the discharge orifice.

5. A soap dispenser consisting of a tank, a discharge device to dispensesoap from the tank, a cover disposed over the open end of the tank, afeed piston to uniformly supply soap to the discharge device, a postfixed to the piston, a draw rod, a slidable and pivotal joint arrangedto connect the draw rod to the post, a spring interposed between thepiston and cover, and a knob on the outer end of the draw rod.

6. A soap dispenser comprising in combination, a tank, a discharge meanscarried may be secured to the vertical wall of a standing structure, ahorizontal arm integral with the bracket by which the dispenser may bemounted on a horizontal standing structure, and a drip plate carried onthe horizontal bracket under the discharge means.

7. A soap dispenser comprising a soap tank,'a feed means thereinarranged topress downwardly on the contents, a closure plug fixed in thelower part of the tank, a dis-- charge pocket made in the plug andhaving a discharge orifice out through which the contents are ejected, aplunger having a straight plane pressing face which moves down into thepocket, a sharp cutting edge on the back of the plunger to cut throughthe contents when the plunger rises, a handle by which the plunger isdriven down, and means for forcing the plunger back up to inoperativeposition.

8. A soap dispenser comprising a soap tank, a feed means thereinarranged to press downwardly on the contents, a closure plug fixed inthe lower part of the tank, a discharge pocket made in the plug andhaving a discharge orifice out through which the contents are ejected, aplunger having a straight plane pressing face which moves down into thepocket, a sharp cut-off edge made on the plunger fitting over theorifice and which uncovers the orifice when the plunger moves down, aspring for forcibly moving the plunger out of the pocket, a handlefastened to the plunger to forcibly move the plunger into the pocket andthe cut-off edge away from the orifice.

9. A dispenser comprising a tank, a pocket formed therein with parallelvertical side walls, said pocket made with a discharge orifice, a hubbearing projecting from the side of the pocket, a shaft journaled in thebearing and extending through the walls of the pocket, a plunger securedto the shaft in the pocket, a spring confined in the hub bearing andacting to hold the plunger in upstanding position above the pocket, anorifice cut-ofi' means carried by the plunger and sealing off theorifice, and a manually operated means carried by the shaft for movingthe plunger down into the pocket and opening the orifice.

10. A soap dispenser comprising in combination a soap tank, an ejectingdevice mounted in the lower end of the tank, a plunger to feed soa tothe ejecting device, said plunger provi ed with an upper and lower edgesharpened. and closely fitting the wall of the tank to cut dried soaptherefrom during up and down travel therein, means to force the plungerdownwardly against the soap, withdrawing means whereby the plunger isretracted against the forcing means, and a locking device cooperatingwith the withdrawing means for holding the plunger in inoperativeposition.

11. A soap dispenser comprising in combi nation a soap tank, an ejectingdevice mounted in the lower end of the tank and embodying a soap pocket,a shaft disposed through the pocket, a plunger fixed on the shaft andadapted to swing downwardly into the pocket, a plunger to feed soap tothe ejecting device, said plunger provided with an upper and lower rimsharpened and closely fitting the wall of the tank to cut dried soaptherefrom during up and down travel therein, means to force the plungerdownwardly against the soap, withdrawing means whereby the plunger isretracted against the forcing means, and a locking device cooperatingwith the withdrawing means for holding the plunger in inoperativeposition.

12. A dispensing machine comprising a receptacle, an ejector at thelower end thcreof, mounting means by which the machine is installed. inservice position, a piston adapted to feed material into the ejector,means thrusting downwardly on the piston, avpost anchored to the piston,a draw rod pivotally carried on the end of the post and projecting fromthe receptacle, a relative motion joint forming the post and rod pivotwhereby the rod is adapted to draw the post to exposed position outsidethe receptacle, and means forming part of the joint adapt-- ed to permitthe rod to fold down on the post and lock the joint outside thereceptacle with the piston in inoperative position.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature this 27th day of April 1923 inthe city of South Norwalk, county of Fail-field, and State ofConnecticut.

CHARLES AUSSENHOFER.

